Arsenalist

We must win. If we don’t, then it becomes a dogfight for a Champions League spot and we want no part of it. After this game we have a relatively easy schedule: Sunderland, Stoke, Burnley, Hull, West Ham, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Arsenal will be favored to collect all three points in every single one of those games which means this is the last hurdle to greener pastures. Who knows, with some luck Man Utd and Chelsea could drop some points and it would be a title race again.

The good news is that they haven’t beaten us at home in over 10 years. Other than the robbery in the Champions League where Babel got awarded a penalty and Hleb got denied one, they’ve struggled against us. Usually the man to watch is Fernando Torres but he’s out with injury. This means the central defense combination of Gallas and Vermaelen will have to focus on Babel, Ngog and Maxi Rodriguez. I’m more worried about our situation at left-back where Clichy has looked far from reassuring, I’m concerned how he’ll handle the efficiency of Dirk Kuyt when he’s matched up with him, the latter has a tendency to score big goals for them. Kuyt doesn’t have the deception that Clichy saw in Nani or Ashley Young, nor the strength of Drogba, but the man is gritty and can will his way to a goal. I’m surprised how far Clichy has fallen, there was a time when I was shocked that he wasn’t part of the French team, now I see why.

Eduardo will not play today and he’s expected to return against Porto. The boss is probably thinking that since we were able to beat Liverpool (and quite handily in the second half) using the little Russian up front, there’s no reason we can’t do it again. We have really missed his creativity up front, he had scored a great header against West Ham and had setup a couple goals (one for Fabregas) before he got injured. Since then we’ve gone to the “single striker” lineup and that’s produced no results for us. I really do hope the boss starts Bendtner up front, I’m not saying he’s a great striker by any means but he at least has a chance of getting a head on those crosses we seem to be supplying of late. With Arhsavin those are a total waste, with Bendtner there’s a 1% chance he connects.

Arsenal.com has a pretty nice page where they keep track of how loaned players are doing. Caught a bit of Bolton’s game against Man City and have to say, Jack Wilshere did not seem out of place. They lost 2-0 but he was quite impressive in midfield and seemed very composed with the ball at his feet.

I hate the Spanish press for obvious reasons. Check this story where they’re saying Fabregas has agreed to a “verbal deal”. Soon after Barca “flatly deny” any such claim. I’m surprised The Telegraph would even publish a story which has no footing whatsoever but I suppose with the internet taking over newspapers, cheap hits are the way to go.

Just waiting for 2:45PM local time. Go Gunners!